Whitehaven and Workington Town have been graded in the C category under new guidelines set out by RFL partners IMG.
Both Cumbrian clubs are in the bottom five of the 35 clubs graded for the 2024 season.
Only seven Super League clubs have been awarded an initial Grade A status as the top flight will be restructured in 2025.
Seventeen clubs, including Barrow Raiders, are in the B category with the other 11 in C.
Only three of the newer entries to professional rugby league Midlands Hurricanes, Cornwall and North Wales Crusaders are below Workington and Whitehaven in the list which reveals the points each club received.
Teams are awarded points for on and off-field performance and the top 12 sides at the end of 2024 will make up Super League in 2025.
London Broncos, promoted to the top flight on 15 October, are 24th in the new gradings and likely to spend only one season in Super League before the change comes in.
They are way down the list with even Newcastle Thunder, who resigned from League One earlier this month, above them in the points table.
The Rugby Football League said the change aimed to “incentivise clubs to grow their fanbase and top-line non-centralised revenue, to better engage with fans, to be run in a best-in-class way, to invest in their club and the sport in a sustainable way, and to ensure strong governance”.
Clubs are awarded points – and a grade – based on five categories: Fandom, Performance, Finances, Stadium and Community, with a maximum of 20 points on offer.
- Fandom [5 points]: Taking in attendances, memberships and digital engagement with fans
- Performance [5 pts]: Teams rated 1-36 in terms of league position over three seasons, with bonuses for league/cup wins
- Finances [4.5 pts]: Income, financial stability, diversity of revenue streams and business performance
- Stadium [3 pts]: Quality of facility, match-day experience, capacity, utilisation
- Community [1 pt for foundation, 1.5pts for catchment area]: Success of foundations as charitable arms, and how much competition for supporters in local area.
To reach Grade A status, clubs must score at least 15 points with 7.5 points receiving a B grading.
The 11 clubs in Category C with points are: Oldham 7.39; Swinton Lions 7.21; Dewsbury Rams 7.10; Rochdale Hornets 7.03; Hunslet 6.94; Keighley Cougars 6.58; Workington Town 6.54; Whitehaven 6.27; Midlands Hurricanes 5.92; Cornwall 5.75; North Wales Crusaders 5.07.
Barrow are 19th overall, .12th in the B category with a score of 9.18.
Whitehaven chief executive Barry Morgan said: “We are disappointed with a couple of our scores, especially the community one.
“Our community programme involved players going into schools, Care homes with players from the 60s involved.
“There has been input on matchdays from all the emergency services including RNLI, blood bikes and St John Ambulance.
“We have a weekly gentlemen’s health get together plus a weekly autism charity arts and crafts evening.
“The club is used regularly for family parties, weddings, funeral teas and christenings along with daytime corporate use.
“All these events have taken off in the last six months since we started the mini rugby summer camps to involve parents and children.
“I don’t know what else a club has to do to improve it’s score of 0.75 out of 2.5.
“We as a club are unsure on how certain areas of the grading can be judged when the club haven’t been visited to gain a perspective on the number of pillars that we offer.
“The club will be moving forward working as hard as we can both on the field in challenging as high up the Championship table in the 2024 season as well as striving to improve behind the scenes to improve our grade ahead of definitive grading over the next 12 months.”
Whitehaven say they will be drafting a letter to the RFL with their comments on their grading.
Workington Town say they will comment when they fully digest the implications of the various scores.
